


Muggle Love

by musikurt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-14
Updated: 2010-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-03 04:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/377403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musikurt/pseuds/musikurt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur finds an opportunity to learn about Muggles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Muggle Love

He regarded it as fate that a Muggle-born wizard was sorted into Gryffindor with him. He had always been fascinated by Muggles and was interested in learning more about what they did and how they lived. His parents had always been skeptical of Muggles, so there was no way he could have learned anything outside of school and he knew the Muggle Studies class was something he would have to wait to take.

He couldn't help but act like what he later learned the Muggles referred to as a "fangirl". He had so many questions! How do Muggles even live without magic? They actually scrubbed their floors with sponges? They had to stand in front of the stove the entire time they are cooking dinner? Do they really have enough time in the day to get everything done? What is with their obsession with what they call "television"?

Sadly, he was seated way down at the other end of the table so he had to go through the entire feast without the opportunity to get any of his questions answered. All of the other students around him were Wizard-born and he didn't want to embarrass himself by bringing up all of the questions he had. He learned long ago that many other Wizards did not share this same interest and while they did not necessarily think they were better than Muggles, he was clearly in the minority of his peers.

He tried to watch his housemate without being too obvious about it. He wondered if any of the food being served even resembled anything that the Muggles eat. Even when his family had traveled to Muggle tourist destinations, they always stayed in the underground Wizard areas, so he was not even certain what it was that they ate at their various meals and feasts. The other student didn't seem to be fazed by any of the offerings, so he assumed that it was at least very similar to what he was used to in his former life.

As he tried to make small talk with the students around him, he began to wonder what it is like for the Muggle-born students. They most likely know nothing about the magical world and they've most certainly never heard of Hogwarts before. And then one day, out of nowhere, this letter shows up along with a faculty member to try to help them understand things that are hard for them to believe. His mother had told him that many Muggles think the Wizarding world exists only in stories and fairy tales. How do you undo years of conditioning in one night? How do you tell someone that something they know wholeheartedly does not exist is not only real, but they are now destined to forever be a part of it? And what do the faculty members do if the parents don't believe them? How do they handle it if they refuse to allow their child to attend the school? Do they respect the Muggle laws and allow the parents to withhold magical schooling from their children, or do they enforce the Wizarding laws regarding compulsory education for youth? Oh, how he wished he could take the Muggle Studies class right away! He had so many questions!

He was disappointed when the feast ended and they were quickly ushered to the Common Room by their Prefects. He tried to navigate through the crowd to get closer to his potential new friend, but he was unable to manage that feat. The introductions to how things worked in the dormitory took much longer than he had expected and by the end of it all, he was himself rather tired. It didn't occur to him that he should try to arrange it so his bunk would be near the Muggle student and by the time he realized the potential advantage to achieving his ends, it was too late. He would now be as far across the room as was possible with the setup of their particular room. He sighed, but resigned himself to the situation.

As much as he wanted to have a conversation, he knew they had to be up early in the morning, so he decided his questions would have to wait. It was rough, having been the closest to getting his answers he had ever been in his life, to realize that he was going to have to wait even longer. And then what would he do if the guy didn't like him and refused to answer his questions. It would be like getting to the very end of a race only to learn you took the wrong route and were being disqualified. The idea made him nervous and upset at the same time.

He slowly got ready to go to bed, wondering if it would be seen as tacky to go and introduce himself at least. Then he could at least judge if it was worth his time to try to purse the answers to his questions. And while it seemed okay by his standards, he wasn't sure if Muggle customs were the same. If they had different ways of getting things done, it would make sense that they might also have different standards of appropriate social behavior. Perhaps introducing yourself to someone while you're both standing in your underwear wasn't exactly proper. And the more he thought about it, it wasn't exactly proper in the Wizarding world, either. By the time he decided he might just give a casual hello, his target (because it was starting to seem like that was the appropriate word) was already cuddled up under the blankets and asleep in his bed.

Arthur sighed as he climbed into his own bed, sad that he was unable to sate all of the excitement he had felt earlier this evening. Once classes got started, he was not sure how much time there would be to socialize and work in his questions about the Muggle world and their fascinating culture. He had often dreamed of the Muggle world before, and he imagined it as being not incredibly different than the world he was used to. What he had a hard time imagining is how the world continues to function when no one has the ability to use magic of any sort. And he was back into his questions again. How do they heal wounds? How to they keep criminals locked up in a way that there is no chance of escape? How do they capture memories if their photographs are all stationary? Doesn't it take forever to send things by post when they have to be carried over land? How do they entertain themselves when they don't get to watch Quidditch? What do they study in school if they don't have any magical subjects to study? Is there something similar to magic in their world that is used to occupy their time? It would seem unfair if they didn't get tortured with all of the essays and exams his cousins had told him were in store during the seven years of a Hogwarts education. They made it sound like it was awful, but they always seemed to talk very fondly of the time they spent at the school and all of the friends they had met while they were there.

Seven years. That was how much time he had to truly learn from his Muggle-born classmate and the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts. Looking at it from that perspective, it was okay that he didn't have all of his questions answered right away. After all, he knew that it was common for answers to sometimes spawn new questions, and who knows how long that cycle could repeat itself. Although, he wouldn't mind making friends with a Muggle student so he could visit them on summer holidays and experience Muggle culture first-hand - that would be the ultimate experience for him and he would give almost anything to make sure it would come to pass.

He smiled as he rolled over into his pillow and started to fall asleep. He had to stop obsessing over learning about Muggle culture. It was not healthy in the slightest. A grand adventure was beginning and instead of being upset or nervous or disappointed, he should be excited for everything that was in store for him at the school. And maybe the essays and exams were not going to be as terrible as his cousins had spent hours trying to convince him -- and on that point, he turned out to be very, very wrong. Yes, very, very wrong.


End file.
